Sound apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sound apparatus is disclosed which can reproduce a wide variety of sound effects. An expansion unit ( 10 ) has a control circuit ( 61 ), an audio circuit ( 62 ), and a speaker ( 63 ). The audio circuit ( 62 ) has a first sound source (SG1)-a fifth sound source (SG5). The control circuit ( 61 ) controls the first to fifth (SG1-SG5) sound sources according to a change in speed information. When the speed information greatly changes over a speed range corresponding to a gear, the reproduction of an acceleration sound or a deceleration sound is interrupted and is started from the beginning according to the number of times that a boundary between speed ranges is crossed.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sound apparatus used in aremote-controlled toy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are have been known many remote-controlled toys each of which hasa drive unit to drive based on a code signal transmitted from acontroller. The code signal includes manipulation information of thedrive unit. A driving state of the drive unit such as a travelingdirection and a traveling speed can be adjusted by the information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in conventional remote-controlled toys, there is a lack ofexcitement because a game is played without sound. In remote-controlledtoys in which information for controlling a sound is created in additionto the manipulation information and a sound apparatus is controlledusing the information, a constitution of a controller is made complex.Further, it is preferable that the sound apparatus has a simpleconstitution.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a soundapparatus that can reproduce various sound effects by a simpleconstitution.

A sound apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention isused in a remote-controlled toy having a controller for outputtingmanipulation information according to a content manipulated by a userand a toy driven based on the manipulation information. The soundapparatus includes a reproduction device for reproducing a plurality oftypes of sound data according to a driving state of the toy and acontrol device for analyzing a change in the driving state of the toybased on a change in the manipulation information and controlling thereproduction device such that sound data can be created according to thechange in the driving state based on a result of the analysis.

According to the invention, the change in the driving state of the toyis analyzed based on the change in the manipulation information, andsound data according to the change in the driving state of the toy iscreated based on the result of the analysis. Accordingly, the controllerneed not create information for reproducing a sound effect in additionto the manipulation information. Further, even if types of sound dataare limited in the sound apparatus, since various types of sound datacan be appropriately combined in conformity with the change in thedriving state of the toy, it is possible to reproduce various soundeffects by a simple constitution. Because of that, the realism of a gamecan be enhanced. The reproduction device may be any device as long as itcan reproduce sound data and includes a sound source made by hardware, asound source made by software, a PCM sound source, an FM sound source,and the like. Further, the manipulation information may be input to thesound apparatus at a predetermined cycle.

It is preferable that the control device detects the change in themanipulation information by comparing past manipulation information withpresent manipulation information, and when the amount of change in themanipulation information is within a predetermined range, it ispreferable that the control device maintains a controlled state of thereproduction device to create the sound data. When the manipulationinformation does not almost change, the driving state also does notchange. Accordingly, it is more preferable to reproduce the same sounddata than to change the type of sound data to be reproduced.

The manipulation information includes speed information to express aspeed, the reproduction device can reproduce first sound data to expressan acceleration sound and a second sound data to express a decelerationsound, and the control device detects a change in the speed informationobtained by comparing past speed information with present speedinformation as the change in the manipulation information, and when thepresent speed information is larger than the past speed information, thecontrol device preferably controls the reproduction device such that itreproduces the first sound data, and when the present speed informationis less than the past speed information, the control device preferablycontrols the reproduction device such that it reproduces the secondsound data. In this case, since the acceleration sound and thedeceleration sound are reproduced in correspondence to the change in thespeed information, it is possible to reproduce a more real sound effect.

When the control device detects that a boundary between predeterminedspeed ranges is crossed while the past speed information changes to thepresent speed information, the control device preferably controls thereproduction device such that it interrupts the reproduction of thefirst sound data or the second sound data and preferably reproduces thefirst sound data or the second sound data from the beginning of it. Inthis case, a relation between a plurality of gears and speeds ispreviously determined, and a change in the speed information thatcrosses the boundary between the speed ranges is detected, thereproduction of the acceleration sound and the deceleration sound can beinterrupted and they can be reproduced from the beginning of them. Withthe above operation, a sound effect resulting from gear changes such asshift-up and shift-down operations can be reproduced by the accelerationsound and the deceleration sound without specially providing areproduction device for gear change.

It is preferable that a plurality of speed ranges to be composed of thepredetermined speed ranges are set within a range that can be covered bythe speed information and that the control device detects a number oftimes that a boundary between the predetermined speed ranges is crossedwhile the past speed information changes to the present speedinformation and repeat processing for controlling the reproductiondevice such that it interrupts the reproduction of the first sound dataor the second sound data and reproduce the first sound data or thesecond sound data from the beginning of it according to the detectednumber of times. With the above operation, a sound effect correspondingto the shift-up and shift-down operations executed the plurality oftimes can be simply reproduced.

It is preferable that the reproduction device can reproduce third sounddata to express a high-speed traveling sound and fourth sound data toexpress a low-speed traveling sound and that the control device controlthe reproduction device such that it reproduces the third sound dataafter the first sound data has been reproduced as well as control thereproduction device such that it reproduces the fourth sound data afterthe second sound data has been reproduced. Since a speed is increasedafter acceleration and the speed is decreased after deceleration, asound effect can be created in correspondence to a change in the speed,thereby the realism of a game can be more enhanced.

It is preferable that the reproduction device can reproduce fifth sounddata to express a stop state sound, and when the present speedinformation indicates the stop state of the toy and that the controldevice control the reproduction device such that it reproduces the fifthsound data. It is possible to reproduce, for example, an idling sound asthe stop state sound.

It is preferable that the sound apparatus described above include anoutput device for outputting an audio signal based on the sound data anda speaker driven by the audio signal. The above constitution allows areproduced sound to be released.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outside constitution of aremote-controlled toy according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a data structure of transmissiondata according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a side elevated view showing an expansion unit according tothe first embodiment and the portion of an output terminal of acontroller;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electric constitution of thecontroller according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit constitution of theexpansion unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a relation between a speed rangeand a gear according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by a controlcircuit of the expansion unit;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a first specific example;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a second specific example;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a third specific example;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a fourth specific example;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a fifth specific example; and

FIG. 13 is block diagram showing a circuit constitution of an expansionunit according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a remote-controlled toy using a soundapparatus according to the present invention. A vehicle 1 is remotelycontrolled by a controller 2. The vehicle 1 has an R motor for drivingright wheels and an L motor for driving left wheels. The number ofrevolution of these motors is controlled by a code signal transmittedfrom the controller 2.

The controller 2 includes an input unit 4 such as a throttle trigger 4a, a steering wheel 4 b, and the like. A user drives the vehicle 1 bymanipulating the input unit 4. The throttle trigger 4 a has the similstfunction to the function of an accelerator of the vehicle 1. When thethrottle trigger 4 a is pulled to a grip side, an accelerator depressedstate is achieved and the vehicle 1 is moved, and when the throttletrigger 4 a is released, an accelerator released state is achieved andthe vehicle 1 is stopped. The steering wheel 4 b has the similarfunction to the function of a steering wheel of the vehicle 1. Thevehicle 1 turns to the right and to the left by manipulating thesteering wheel 4 b.

The controller 2 has a transmitter 3 for transmitting a code signal forindicating a movement of the vehicle 1 and an output terminal 50 capableof outputting the code signal (not shown). Infaraed rays are used fortransmitting data from the controller 2 to the vehicle 1.

When a plurality of users each having a set of the vehicle 1 and thecontroller 2 gather and enjoy a race and the like, the vehicle 1 of auser must be controlled so that it is distinguished from the vehicle 1of other user. For this purpose, an ID code is allocated to each set ofthe vehicle 1 and the controller 2. Respective ID codes are set suchthat they can be uniquely identified from the other ID codes. Eachcontroller 2 includes its ID code in the code signal transmittedtherefrom. The vehicle 1 identifies the code signal, data of whichincludes the same ID code as that of the vehicle 1, as a code signaltransmitted to itself.

FIG. 2 shows transmission data 5 (manipulation information) as anexample of the code signal transmitted from the controller 2. Thetransmission data 5 is composed of an ID code 6, R motor for travelingcontrol information 7 a and L motor for traveling control information 7b. The ID code 6 is the ID code of the controller 2.

Further, the R motor for traveling control information 7 a indicates thenumber of revolution of the R motor, whereas the L motor for travelingcontrol information 7 b indicates the number of revolution of the Lmotor. When the vehicle 1 is traveled in a linear direction, a value ofthe R motor for traveling control information 7 a almost coincidentswith a value of the L motor for traveling control information 7 b. Whenthe vehicle 1 is traveled so as to turn to the left, the number ofrevolution indicated by the R motor for traveling control information 7a is larger than that of the L motor for traveling control information 7b. When the vehicle 1 is traveled so as to turn to the right, the numberof revolution indicated by the L motor for traveling control information7 b is larger than that of the R motor for traveling control information7 a. Since the R motor for traveling control information 7 a and the Lmotor for traveling control information 7 b indicate the number ofrevolution of motor for traveling mounted on the vehicle 1, theinformation acts as speed information showing a speed of a vehicle. Theinformation is set according to manipulated states of the throttletrigger 4 a and the steering wheel 4 b.

To prevent interference of the transmission data 5 having the respectiveID codes, the transmission data 5 is transmitted according to atransmission timing allocated to each ID code. The transmission timingis adjusted in the controller 2. In the example shown in FIG. 2, datahaving each of ID=1 to 4 are transmitted at a cycle of 4×T3.

FIG. 3 shows an expansion unit 10 acting as a sound apparatus and theoutput terminal 50 as a portion on which the expansion unit 10 ismounted. The output terminal 50 is a terminal for electricallyoutputting the transmission data 5 after it is amplified. The expansionunit 10 has a cable 51 that can be connected to the output terminal 50.The cable 51 has a connection terminal 52 at an end thereof which can beinserted into the output terminal 50 for connection, and the other endthereof is connected to the expansion unit 10. A body of the expansionunit 10 is provided with a stabilizing base 53 so that it can be stablyfixed to the controller 2 when it is mounted thereon. Although aconstitution of the expansion unit 10 is not limited to the above one,it is preferable that the expansion unit 10 be configured such that itcan be stably mounted on the controller 2. It is preferable to set asize and a weight of the expansion unit 10 to such a degree as not tocause troubles when the controller 2 is manipulated after the expansionunit 10 is mounted thereon. Note that the expansion unit 10 may beformed in such a shape that it can be used in other location withoutmounting on the controller 2. The expansion unit 10 may be provided withan amplifier terminal 54 to output the transmission data 5 after it isamplified.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a constitution of the controller 2. Aninput circuit 23 detects that the input unit 4 is manipulated andsupplies a manipulation signal to the control circuit 20 according to amanipulated state of the input unit 4. The control circuit 20 createsthe transmission data 5 described above according to the manipulationsignal. The R motor for traveling control information 7 a and the Lmotor for traveling control information 7 b included in the transmissiondata 5 are determined according to an amount of displacement of thethrottle trigger 4 a and a rotational angle of the steering wheel 4 b.

The transmission data 5 created by the control circuit 20 is sent to anoutput timing creation circuit 24, and when it is determined that thetransmission timing to send the transmission data 5 comes, thetransmission data 5 is sent to a remote control signal emission unit 21and to a booster signal output unit 60 through a transmission circuit25. The remote control signal emission unit 21 transmits thetransmission data 5 using infrared rays, and the booster signal outputunit 60 outputs the transmission data 5 as digital data. A remotecontrol signal reception unit 22 receives the transmission data 5transmitted from other controller 2. The received transmission data 5 issent to the control circuit 20 through a reception circuit 26 and areception data determination circuit 27. The control circuit 20 uses thereceived data to adjust its timing of transmission.

FIG. 5 shows a circuit constitution of the expansion unit 10. Theexpansion unit 10 is supplied with power from a battery 67, andrespective circuits described below will be operated by turning on apower switch 66. The expansion unit 10 includes a control circuit 61, anaudio circuit 62, a speaker 63, and a volume adjustment unit 64.

The audio circuit 62 includes first to fifth sound sources SG1-SG5 eachcomposed of a PCM sound source, an FM sound source, and the like,creates reproduced sound data, and D/A converts the reproduced sounddata to output an audio signal, under the control of the control circuit61. The first sound source SG1 outputs sound data D1 expressing anacceleration sound. The acceleration sound is an engine sound whichchanges from a low sound to a high sound in acceleration. The secondsound source SG2 outputs sound data D2 expressing a decelerating sound.The decelerating sound is an engine sound which changes from a highsound to a low sound in deceleration. The third sound source SG3 outputssound data D3 expressing a high-speed traveling sound. The high-speedtraveling sound is a sound created by synthesizing a high-pitched enginesound, a hissing sound, and the like in high-speed traveling. The fourthsound source SG4 outputs sound data D4 expressing a low-speed travelingsound. The low-speed traveling sound is a sound created by synthesizingan engine sound, a hissing sound, and the like in low-speed traveling.The fifth sound source SG5 outputs sound data D5 expressing an idlingsound. The idling sound is an engine sound in idling. In the first tofifth sound sources SG1-SG5, whether or not the sound data D1-D5 are tobe reproduced, timing at which the sound data D1-D5 are reproduced,whether or not the sound data D1-D5 are to be reproduced repeatedly, andwhether or not the reproduction of the sound data D1-D5 is to beinterrupted and they are to be reproduced from the beginning thereof,and the like are controlled by a control signal supplied from thecontrol circuit 61. More specifically, the audio circuit 62 acts as adevice for reproducing a plurality of types of the sound data D1-D5according the to a driving state of the vehicle 1, and the controlcircuit 61 acts as a device for controlling the audio circuit 62 so thatthe sound data D1-D5 can be created according to a change in the drivingstate of the vehicle 1.

When the audio signal obtained by D/A conversion the reproduced sounddata is supplied to the speaker 63, the speaker 63 releases a reproducedsound. Note that the magnitude of the sound output from the speaker 63can be adjusted by the volume adjustment unit 64.

The control circuit 61 is composed of a CPU and the like and controlsthe audio circuit 62. When the transmission data is input to theexpansion unit 10 through the cable 51, the control circuit 61 analyzesthe transmission data 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the transmission data 5includes the R motor for traveling control information 7 a and the Lmotor for traveling control information 7 b. The information expressesthe speed information of the vehicle 1.

The control circuit 61 controls the audio circuit 62 such that a soundcan be reproduced according to a driving state of the vehicle based on achange in the speed information. In this case, the first to fifth soundsources SG1-SG5 are controlled based on speed information before thechange and speed information after the change.

In general, a vehicle has an engine and gears, and the gears are changedto a first speed, a second speed, a third speed and a fourth speed inresponse to an increase in speed. Since a load on the engine is variedby a gear change, an engine sound is changed thereby. Accordingly, thecontrol circuit 61 detects the gear change based on past speedinformation and present speed information and controls the audio circuit62 so that an engine sound can be reproduced according to the gearchange.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a relation between speed information and agear. In this example, the speed information is expressed by 32 stepsfrom 0 to 31. The speed information is divided into a plurality of speedranges, and a gear is allocated to each speed range. However, when thespeed information has a value “0”, the vehicle 1 is in an idling state,and the gears of the first to fourth speeds are not allocated to theidling state.

FIG. 7 shows a flow of processing executed by the control circuit 61 ofthe expansion unit 10. When the power switch 66 is turned on, thecontrol circuit 61 repeats a state of waiting an input of thetransmission data 5 (step S1) and a state of determination whether ornot the transmission data 5 is received (step S2). When the transmissiondata 5 is received, the processing goes to a process S3 at which thecontrol circuit 61 analyzes the transmission data 5 and obtains thespeed information. Note that an average of the R motor for travelingcontrol information 7 a and the L motor for traveling controlinformation 7 b may be used as the speed information.

Next, the control circuit 61 compares the past speed information withthe present speed information and determines whether or not the formerinformation is in coincidence with the latter information (step S4).When the former information is in coincidence with the latterinformation, a past control state is maintained (step S5). When, forexample, both the pieces of the past speed information and the presentspeed information are set to “31” and the high-speed traveling sound isreproduced in the past control state, the reproduction of the high-speedtraveling sound is maintained. Note that when the past control state isin coincidence with the present control state, the past control state ismaintained in this example. However, the past control state may bemaintained when a change in the speed information is detected bycomparing the past speed information with the present speed informationand an amount of the change is within a predetermined range. In thiscase, acceleration processing and deceleration processing, both of whichwill be described later, are not executed even if the speed informationsomewhat changes.

In contrast, when the past speed information is not in coincidence withthe present speed information, the number of times that a boundarybetween speed ranges is crossed in the period while the past speedinformation changes to the present speed information (step S6). In thisprocessing, the control circuit 61 creates gear information bydetermining, for example, which speed range the speed informationbelongs to and creates the number times that a boundary between speedranges is crossed based on a difference between past gear informationand present gear information. When, for example, the past speedinformation is set to “8” and the present invention speed information isset to “31”, since the past speed information “8” belongs to a speedrange corresponding to the first speed, the gear information thereof isset to “1”. In contrast, since the present speed information “31”belongs to a speed range corresponding to the fourth speed, the gearinformation thereof is “4”. As a result, the difference between the gearinformation is set to “3”, and thus the number of times that a boundarybetween speed ranges is crossed in the period while the past speedinformation changes to the present speed information is “three times”.Note that when the past speed information is set to “3” and the presentspeed information is set to “9”, since both the pieces of theinformation belong to the speed range corresponding to the first speed,the number of times a boundary between speed ranges is crossed is “zerotime”.

Next, the control circuit 61 determines whether or not the present speedinformation is larger than the past speed information (step S7). Whenthe present speed information is larger than the past speed information,the acceleration processing is executed (step S8), and when the presentspeed information is less than the past speed information, thedeceleration processing is executed (step S9).

In the acceleration processing, the control circuit 61 controls theaudio circuit 62 such that the high-speed traveling sound is reproducedafter the acceleration sound is reproduced. Specifically, the controlcircuit 61 outputs a control signal for causing the first sound sourceSG1 to reproduce the sound data D1 and then causing the third soundsource SG3 to reproduce the sound data D3. Further, the control circuit61 controls the first sound source SG1 such that the reproduction of theacceleration sound is interrupted and the acceleration sound isreproduced from the beginning according to the number of times that aboundary between speed ranges is crossed. With the above operation, theacceleration sound is repeated from the beginning each time a gear isshifted up, thereby a more realistic sound effect can be reproduced.

In deceleration processing, the control circuit 61 controls the audiocircuit 62 such that the low-speed traveling sound is reproduced afterthe deceleration sound is reproduced. Specifically, the control circuit61 outputs a control signal for causing the second sound source SG2 toreproduce the sound data D2 and then causing the fourth sound source SG4to reproduce the sound data D4. Further, the control circuit 61 controlsthe second sound source SG2 such that the reproduction of thedeceleration sound is interrupted and the deceleration sound isreproduced from the beginning according to the number of times that aboundary between speed ranges is crossed. With the above operation, thedeceleration sound is repeated from the beginning each time a gear isshifted down, thereby a more realistic sound effect such as a sound ofengine brake and the like can be reproduced.

Specific examples will be explained below. FIG. 8 shows an example ofacceleration and deceleration when a boundary between speed ranges isnot crossed as a first specific example. First, when the user turns offthe throttle trigger 4 a from a time t1 to just before a time t2, thespeed information is “0”. In this case, the control circuit 61 controlsthe fifth sound source SG5 such that it reproduces the idling sound dataD5 repeatedly.

Then, when the user manipulates the throttle trigger 4 a and obtainsspeed information “10” at the time t2, the control circuit 61 controlsthe audio circuit 62 such that the first sound source SG1 reproduces theacceleration sound data D1 once. Further, the control circuit 61controls the audio circuit 62 such that the third sound source SG3reproduces the high-speed reproducing sound data D3 repeatedly at a timet3 at which the reproduction of the acceleration sound is finished.

Next, when the user turns off the throttle trigger 4 a at a time t4, thespeed information is set to “0”. The control circuit 61 controls theaudio circuit 62 such that the second sound source SG2 reproduces thedeceleration sound data D2 once. Further, the control circuit 61controls the audio circuit 62 such that the fifth sound source SG5reproduces the idling sound data D5 repeatedly at a time t5 at which thereproduction of the deceleration sound is finished.

FIG. 9 shows an example of acceleration when a boundary between speedranges is crossed as a second specific example. In this example, theuser manipulates the throttle trigger 4 a and changes a turned-off stateto a full throttle state at the time t2. At the time, the speedinformation changes from “0” to “31”. The control circuit 61 detectsthat a boundary between speed ranges has been crossed four times basedon the past speed information “0” and the present speed information“31”. Then, the control circuit 61 controls the fourth sound source SG4such that it reproduces the acceleration sound four times. However, thereproduction of the acceleration sound is interrupted and it isreproduced from the beginning of it in the first three times, whereas itis reproduced from the beginning to the end thereof in the last time.When the reproduction of the final acceleration sound has beencompleted, the control circuit 61 controls the audio circuit 62 suchthat the third sound source SG3 reproduces the high-speed reproducingsound data D3 repeatedly. With the above operation, an atmosphere offour times of shift-up operation can be more realistically reproduced.

FIG. 10 shows an example of deceleration when a boundary between speedranges is crossed as a third example. In this example, the usermanipulates the throttle trigger 4 a and changes the full throttle stateto the turned-off state at the time t2. At the time, the speedinformation changes from “31” to “0”. The control circuit 61 detectsthat a boundary between speed ranges has been crossed four times basedon the past speed information “31” and the present speed information“0”. The control circuit 61 controls the second sound source SG2 suchthat it reproduces the deceleration sound four times. However, thereproduction of the deceleration sound is interrupted and it isreproduced from the beginning in first three times, whereas it isreproduced from the beginning to the end thereof in a last time. Whenthe reproduction of the final deceleration sound has been completed, thecontrol circuit 61 controls the audio circuit 62 such that the fifthsound source SG5 reproduces the idling sound data D5 repeatedly. Withthe above operation, an atmosphere of four times of the shif-downoperation can be more realistically reproduced.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a shift operation from the high-speedtraveling sound to the low-speed traveling sound. In this example, theuser somewhat moves the throttle trigger 4 a back from the full-throttlestate at the time t2. At the time, the speed information changes from“31” to “20”. The control circuit 61 detects that a boundary betweenspeed ranges has been crossed once based on the past speed information“31” and the present speed information “20”. The control circuit 61controls the second sound source SG2 such that it reproduces thedeceleration sound twice. However, the reproduction of the decelerationsound is interrupted in the first time, and the deceleration sound isreproduced from the beginning to the end thereof in the second time.When the reproduction of the final deceleration sound has been completedat the time t3, the control circuit 61 controls the audio circuit 62such that the fourth sound source SG4 reproduces the low-speedreproducing sound data D4 repeatedly.

When the user somewhat moves the throttle trigger 4 a back and the speedinformation changes from “20” to “10” at the time t4, the controlcircuit 61 detects a boundary between speed ranges has been crossed oncebased on the past speed information “20” and the present speedinformation “10”. In this case, the control circuit 61 may interrupt thereproduction of the deceleration sound in the first time and mayreproduce it from the beginning to the end thereof in the last timesimilarly to the processing executed from the time t2 to the time t3.Otherwise, the control circuit 61 may controls to reproduce thedeceleration sound from the beginning to the end thereof once as shownin the drawing. When the reproduction of the deceleration sound has beencompleted at the time t5, the control circuit 61 controls the audiocircuit 62 such that the fourth sound source SG4 reproduces thelow-speed reproducing sound data D4 repeatedly.

When the user changes the throttle trigger 4 a to the turned-off stateat a time t6, the speed information changes from “10” to “0”. Thecontrol circuit 61 controls the second sound source SG2 so as toreproduce the deceleration sound once, and when the reproduction of ithas been completed, the control circuit 61 controls the audio circuit 62such that the fifth sound source SG5 reproduces the idling sound data D5repeatedly.

FIG. 12 shows an example that the low-speed traveling sound is shiftedto the low-speed traveling sound again through the high-speed travelingsound as a fifth specific example. In this example, the speedinformation changes from “10” to “20” at the time t2. The controlcircuit 61 detects the acceleration thereby a boundary of a speed rangesis crossed onece based on the change in the speed information. Thecontrol circuit 61 controls the first sound source SG1 such that itreproduces the acceleration sound once. Otherwise, the reproduction ofthe acceleration sound may be interrupted in a first time, and theacceleration sound may be reproduced from the beginning to the endthereof in a last time. When the reproduction of the acceleration soundhas been completed at the time t3, the control circuit 61 controls thethird sound source SG3 such that it reproduces the high-speed reproducedsound data D3.

When the speed information changes from “20” to “31” at the time t4, thecontrol circuit 61 detects the acceleration thereby a boundary of speedranges has been crossed onece has been executed. Then, the controlcircuit 61 controls the first sound source SG1 such that it interruptsthe reproduction of the acceleration sound in a first time andreproduces the acceleration sound from the beginning to the end thereofin a last time, and when the reproduction of the acceleration sound hasbeen completed at the time t5, the control circuit 61 controls the thirdsound source SG3 such that it reproduces the high-speed reproducingsound repeatedly.

When the speed information changes from “31” to “20” at the time t5, thecontrol circuit 61 detects that deceleration that a boundary of speedranges has been crossed once based on the change in the speedinformation. Then, the control circuit 61 controls the second soundsource SG2 such that it interrupts the reproduction of the decelerationsound in a first time and reproduces the deceleration sound from thebeginning to the end thereof in a last time, and when the reproductionof the acceleration sound has been completed at a time t7, the controlcircuit 61 controls the forth sound source SG4 such that it reproducesthe low-speed reproducing sound repeatedly.

2. Second Embodiment

Next, a remote-controlled toy according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention will be explained. The remote-controlled toy accordingto the second embodiment is configured similarly to that of the firstembodiment except a detailed constitution of the expansion unit 10.

FIG. 13 shows a circuit constitution of an expansion unit 10′ accordingto the second embodiment. The expansion unit 10 of the first embodimentdescribed above has the first to fifth sound sources SG1-SG5 disposed inthe audio circuit 62, and the respective sound data D1-D5 are createdfrom the respective sound sources. Whereas, in the second embodiment, aplurality of types of sound data D1-D5 are stored in the predeterminedmemory regions of a single ROM 68 respectively. An audio circuit 62reads out the sound data D1-D5 from the ROM 68 based on a control signalsupplied from a control circuit 61. More specifically, the audio circuit62 creates a read-out address signal for designating a memory regionbased on the control signal, appropriately reads out the sound dataD1-D5 using the read-out address signal, and outputs an audio signal,which is obtained by D/A converting the sound data, to a speaker 63.

It is assumed that the idling sound data D5 is stored in a memory regiondesignated by, for example, addresses ADR0-ADR255. In this case, when acontrol signal for designating an idling sound is supplied to the audiocircuit 62, the audio circuit 62 creates address read-out signals forsequentially designating the addresses ADR0-ADR255. When a controlsignal indicates to reproduce the idling sound continuously after theaddress read-out signal for designating the address ADR255 has beencreated, the audio circuit 62 creates an address read-out signal so asto return to the address ADR0 and read out the sound data D5 repeatedly.

Since the control signal is created according to a change in a drivingstate of the toy, the various types of the sound data D1-D5 can beappropriately combined in conformity with the change in the drivingstate of the toy by creating the address read-out signal based on thecontrol signal. With the above constitution, it is possible to reproducevarious sound effects, thereby the realism of a game can be enhanced.Note that when the single ROM 68 does not have a sufficient memorycapacity, or when a plurality of types of sound data are reproduced at atime, a plurality of the ROMs 68 may be used. Although the ROM 68 isdisposed externally of the audio circuit 62 in this example, it may bedisposed in the audio circuit 62. Further, a single or a plurality ofslots may be disposed to the expansion unit 10′ acting as an soundapparatus, and the audio circuit 62 and the ROM 68 may compose a singlesound card to be used by inserting into a slot. In this case, it ispossible to easily change or add reproduction-possible sound data byreplacing or adding a sound card.

It should be noted that the present invention is by no means limited tothe above respective embodiment and may be embodied in various modes.For example, when a plurality of users each having a set of a vehicle 1and a controller 2 gather and enjoy a race and the like, the soundapparatus may include a receiver to receive code signals transmittedfrom the controllers 2 of the respective users, convert the code signalsinto electric signals, and output resultant electric signals, thecontrol circuit 61 of the expansion unit 10 described above, the audiocircuit 62, and the speaker 63. Further, the speaker 63 may be disposedexternally of the sound apparatus, and further the sound apparatus maydirectly output reproduced sound data.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possibleto reproduce various sound effects according to a driving state bycombining various reproduced sounds with the simple constitution,thereby realism can be greatly enhanced.

1. A sound apparatus to be used in a remote-controlled toy having acontroller for outputting manipulation information according to acontent manipulated by a user and a toy driven based on the manipulationinformation, the sound apparatus comprising: a reproduction device forreproducing a plurality of types of sound data according to a drivingstate of the toy; and a control device for analyzing a change in thedriving state of the toy based on a change in the manipulationinformation, and controlling the reproduction device to create sounddata according to the change in the driving state of the toy based on aresult of the analysis.
 2. The sound apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the control device detects the change in the manipulationinformation by comparing past manipulation information with presentmanipulation information, and when an amount of the change is within apredetermined range, the control device maintains a control of thereproduction device to create the sound data.
 3. The sound apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the manipulation information includesspeed information to express a speed; the reproduction device isconfigured to reproduce first sound data to express an accelerationsound and a second sound data to express a deceleration sound; and thecontrol device detects a change in the speed information as the changein the manipulation information by comparing past speed information withpresent speed information, and when the present speed information islarger than the past speed information, the control device controls thereproduction device to reproduce the first sound data, and when thepresent speed information is less than the past speed information, thecontrol device controls the reproduction device to reproduce the secondsound data.
 4. The sound apparatus according to claim 3, wherein whenthe control device detects that a boundary between predetermined speedranges is crossed while the past speed information changes to thepresent speed information, the control device controls the reproductiondevice to interrupt the reproduction of the first sound data or thesecond sound data and to reproduce the first sound data or the secondsound data from the beginning.
 5. The sound apparatus according to claim4, wherein a plurality of speed ranges to be composed of thepredetermined speed ranges are set within a range that can be covered bythe speed information; and the control device detects a number of timesthat a boundary between the predetermined speed ranges is crossed whilethe past speed information changes to the present speed information andrepeatedly controls the reproduction device to interrupt thereproduction of the first sound data or the second sound data and toreproduce the first sound data or the second sound data from thebeginning according to the number of times crossed.
 6. The soundapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the reproduction device isconfigured to reproduce third sound data to express a high-speedtraveling sound and fourth sound data to express a low-speed travelingsound; and the control device controls the reproduction device toreproduce the third sound data after the first sound data has beenreproduced and controls the reproduction device to reproduce the fourthsound data after the second sound data has been reproduced.
 7. The soundapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the reproduction device isconfigured to reproduce fifth sound data to express a stop state sound,and when the present speed information indicates a stop state of thetoy, the control device controls the reproduction device to reproducethe fifth sound data.
 8. The sound apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising: an output device for outputting an audio signalbased on the sound data; and a speaker driven by the audio signal.